WITH reference to the letter by Stewart Falconer (January 15) it has become very evident that the supporters of separating Scotland from rUK have learned very little since they lost the “once in a generation” democratic referendum vote in 2014. Not only are they sore losers but they have clearly failed to understand the basics as to why they lost, and more importantly, recognise that they are still floundering to articulate a credible economic plan that their fellow Scots, along with the financial sector and the money market, could at least consider seriously. Will Nicola Sturgeon’s regime prove to have been peak SNP, with the party and its independence dream doomed? Indeed, the refusal to face the hard economic facts of independence by the SNP was best illustrated when the uncompromising Growth Commission report by Andrew Wilson (SNP chief economist) was binned by Nicola Sturgeon because it spelt out the difficult choices with the currency, public sector spending cuts and the fact it could take up to 10 years to successfully apply for EU membership. Having failed miserably to publish a coherent and credible plan for independence has undoubtedly encouraged the vacuum to be filled by the barrack-room lawyer-type approach by some of the rank and file desperate to hang on to Ms Sturgeon’s “dream”. So, devoid of a plan and credibility many have resorted to misinformation in social media, grievances and intolerance more akin to a cult than a political party. Finally, on currency: we should all know that Scotland will not be allowed to keep using the pound if it breaks away. That leaves only two options — either sterlingisation (like Panama uses the US dollar) or float a heavily discounted Scottish currency. As the late Alistair Darling once said: “Any eight-year-old can tell you the flag of a country, the capital of a country, and its currency. Now I presume the flag’s the Saltire, I assume our capital will still be Edinburgh, but you (SNP) can’t tell us what currency we’ll have. What’s an eight-year-old going to make of that?” In my view the whole house of cards built by the SNP for independence has become more “dodgy” by every passing day and will over time become a sad footnote of our history. Ian Lakin, Aberdeen.